“It warms my heart to see how my film from so many years ago has inspired a new generation to reimagine a new and different version,” Lee says.
Andrew Ahn, doing it for the girls and the gays, is directing a remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 rom-com The Wedding Banquet — and he’ll have help from two of Hollywood’s in-demand stars.
Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon actress Lily Gladstone and Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live breakout Bowen Yang will star in the reimagining, with a script from Ahn and James Schamus, the latter of whom co-wrote Lee’s Oscar-nominated film. Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars), Yuh-jung Youn (Minari), and Joan Chen (Saving Face) round out the cast.
The synopsis is as follows: “When Min’s boyfriend Chris rejects his spontaneous marriage proposal, he convinces his best friend Angela to marry him instead, paying for her partner Liz’s IVF treatments in exchange for his green card. Their plans for a subtle city hall elopement are turned upside down when Min’s grandmother makes a surprise trip from Seoul to throw them an extravagant Korean wedding banquet.”
Lee’s original film, which was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry last year, followed a gay Taiwanese man (Winston Chao) who weds a struggling artist (May Chin) desperate for her green card to prevent his parents from finding out about his sexuality and relationship with his boyfriend (Mitchell Lichtenstein). The faux union turns into a debacle when his parents plan him an extravagant wedding banquet.
In a statement, Lee said he’s looking forward to watching the reimagined version. “It warms my heart to see how my film from so many years ago has inspired a new generation to reimagine a new and different version,” the filmmaker said. “I look forward to seeing what Andrew Ahn and his wonderful cast create.”
Ahn, who previously directed Joel Kim Booster’s queer Pride & Prejudice reimagining Fire Island, added on social media, “Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet was the first gay film I ever watched. It was the first time I saw a gay Asian character on screen. It means so much to me to continue its legacy with such an incredible cast and team!”
Principal photography is set to begin next month in Vancouver.
Gladstone recently became the first Native American woman nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, for her role as Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. She can currently be seen in the Hulu limited series Under the Bridge opposite Riley Keough. Yang’s recent credits include Dicks: The Musical and The Tiger’s Apprentice. He’s also set to appear in the highly anticipated big-screen adaptation of Wicked.
